Keep on smiling Benny
by If Only Legolas Were Mine
Summary: Benny always seemed like such a happy guy, but in all honesty, he wasn't always that way. Benny's had a sad and terrible childhood, but there are only rainbows after rain right? A one-shot about why Benny's always been so excited to build a spaceship, and how he was outcasted for wanting to build without the instructions...


**A/N: Benny is adorable, no questions asked. I thought he deserved a backstory where we really got to understand why he's always so eager to build a spaceship, so here it is! I'll be posting it on Tumblr too (My URL is on my profile) So please enjoy and leave a review!  
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The whole class stood up and placed their hand over their chests. All was silent for a few seconds when the loud speaker aired, "Classes, it's time for our pledge: Everything is Awesome" the song began beaming through the school and the children in the 4th grade class and all over the school began singing along to the song they grew up singing. Alas the song was over and the whole class sat down; the teacher began taking role, eying one empty seat in the very front.

"Jerry?"

"Here!"

"Karen?"

"Here!"

"Benny?"

...

"Benny?"

...

There wasn't a response from the empty seat, the teacher rolled her eyes and sighed, about to mark him absent when... "I... I'M HERE!" a high pitched, frantic voice busted through the door, papers falling out of the boys grip and flying everywhere. He stumbled to his seat, tripping into it, the whole class snickering at his fail. The boy in the blue shirt flushed pink and grouped his school papers together then looked at the teacher and cleared his throat, "I'm here..." he said again, trying to keep a big grin on his face.

"Mmmhmm, and what made you late today Mister Benny?" The teacher raised an eyebrow.

"Uhh, uhh well..." he looked left to right, the entire class still smiling at him, "well last night... I..." he hesitated and then jumped onto his desk, "_I FOUND OUT HOW TO BUILD A SPACESHIP!_" he shrieked happily and threw his hands in the air, expecting a fascinated reaction from everyone...but instead received the opposite.

The class burst out into a roar of laughter. "_BENNY'S SUCH A NERD! HA HA!"_

_"BENNY YOU'RE SO WEIRD!"_

_"HA HA BENNY YOU'RE LAAAAME_!" the kids laughed and teased.

He had a panicked expression as he spun around to stare at them all, "NO NO GUYS! SPACESHIPS ARE AWESOME! I'VE GOT AN INSTRUCTIONS MANUAL AND EVERYTHING!" he tried to defend himself over the loud laughter, "I MADE IT OUT OF 80's TECH AND IT COULD FLY AND I HAVE A BRAND NEW BLUE SPACE SUIT TOO! IT... IT WAS REALLY COOL!" he was almost pleading for them to understand, but they kept pointing and making fun.

"**BENNY! SIT. DOWN.**" the teacher slammed her ruler on the desk, "**AND THE REST OF THE CLASS! QUIET!**"

Benny slunk down lower into his chair, embarrassed and sad as he could hear all the other kids whispering his name... _why didn't everybody else like spaceships? And what was so wrong with him liking them...?_

The next week was show-and-tell and Benny was more than excited to bring his two most prized possessions yet; the Spaceship Instructions Manual and his very own bright blue astronaut suit!

"Now kids," the teacher made the class sit on the floor in a circle, "Who would like to go first?" Bennys' hand was the first to shoot up in the air, he was practically jumping up and down in excitement. "Ahhh..." her eyes skimmed the other calmer student with their hands raised, "Bella! How about you go?"

Bracelets, coins, photos, it felt like a millennium until the teacher finally chose the eager child, but when she did, he was more than delighted.

"HEY GUYS!" Benny jumped up and held his manual high, "Guess what this is! It teaches you how to make the coolest, most amazing thing in the world!" He said as if he was about to explode, "IT TEACHES YOU HOW TO BUILD A SPACESHIP!" He screamed. The class simply stared in boredom, _'what's so cool about a spaceship?'_ they thought.

So Benny went on explaining about how he had already assembled and disassembled the entire thing twice and how he was getting better and better at it now; the class simply didn't care. He talked about how his suit was brand new and how real astronauts wore them when they went into space... but the class kept tuning out; but Benny didn't care, he just kept smiling.

That day during recess, Benny put his suit away then sat on a bench and read over his manual; smiling like he always was. He read step 33: "Place piece 17 on top of-" "HEY!" Benny squealed as the manual was whacked out of his hand, "Why'd ya do that..." his voice faded away as he saw who it was; the 3 boys who had been picking on him since the day he mentioned his fondness of the aircraft.

"Why're you so weird Benny? Huh? Why can't you be normal like us, and like normal kid stuff?" One of the kids said.

Benny gulped, not understanding how to answer the question, but another kid spoke first, "Spaceships aren't even cool Benny!"

"Yea, gosh Benny!"

Benny stuttered, "Wh...what's so wrong with liking spaceships!?" The small boy asked.

"What's wrong!? Benny, no one likes spaceships because it's weird and not normal!"

He looked from right to left at the rude kids, not finding words, "That makes _you weird and not normal._.." one of them laughed.

"Benny, you're not like us other kids who like flowers and music and games, you're just... _you're just a freak.._." a boy spat.

And with that they walked away, leaving Benny crushed.

The next few years were hard for Benny, he was an outcast for his passion for 1980 technology and the crafting of a spaceship. He went through silently, smiling at everyone but never telling anyone about the secret fondness he had, never even uttering the word "_Spaceship_" out loud anymore. But at home, Benny let his mind explore. By the 5th grade, Benny had the whole Instructions manual memorized, by the 6th grade he had studied each piece and could assemble and disassemble the whole thing in less than 10 minutes. In 7th and 8th grade he began to understand how each piece worked and the engineering of the spaceship itself and by 9th grade, he could practically build that old spaceship in seconds. Benny was now in 10th grade, still happy and smiling, still closed off and a little shy, but he had so much potential and so much energy pent up inside of him, he could do so much more...

One day in class, Benny came across a brilliant group boys who also loved spaceships, just as much as Benny did! They all became great friends, _Benny finally had friends._ Then in 12th grade, Benny began thinking about how... he didn't have to follow the manual... he had studied the mechanism of a spaceship so well, he could build a spaceship out of anything. He didn't need a manual to tell him how to build anymore! He proposed this idea to his friends and the teachers; they all thought he was insane! He told his friends how they could try to build their own types of spaceships, become builders... But no!

Once again, Benny was outcasted, laughed at, thought of as crazy, _**alone again**_...

Graduation that year was a struggle, not having any friends again, but as usual, Benny made it by... just barely smiling... Benny applied everywhere for a job after that, astrology sites, Space centers, but there wasn't anyone who was willing to understand how Benny could do so much more than just "_follow the instructions._"

Everyone was rejecting Benny... he was so lost... so unwanted by everyone... was there actually something wrong with him? Benny locked himself up in his small room and cried, cried because he was so confused, why didn't he ever fit in?! Why was he always outcasted? Because he wanted to build on his own? Without the manual, he could make a spaceship out of almost anything! Was that so wrong!?

Benny didn't leave his room for days, he just sat in the dark wondering what he had been doing that made him so different... and it always came down to one thing: his desire to make spaceships on his own.

Everything was still, until one day there was a knock at his door, it was a man with a long white beard, dark skin, and was one who spoke many wise words. He sat Benny down and told him he was "special," he told him that he wasn't like the others, that he could train to be a "Master Builder," a builder who didn't always follow the manuals and instructions. A builder who could make something out of anything.

My, was Benny overwhelmed when he heard this joyous news, he was practically running up the walls, he was so excited! The strange man also told him that there were so many more like him, that he wasn't alone! There was a place where he would belong! Benny was so happy he could hardly contain himself.

"So Benny," the man asked calmly, "what is the one thing you really like to build?"

Benny's heart nearly skipped a beat. Within a flash he changed into his old blue suit and ran up to the old man, screaming: "SPACESHIPS!"

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**A/N: Leave a review please and tell me what you think :)**


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